2012 Tour of California winner Robert Gesink (Rabobank)(Image credit: Jon Devich)
Los Angeles local Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Barracuda) brought his kids on stage to collect his second place award.(Image credit: Mark Johnson/www.ironstring.com)
Peter Sagan reflects on winning 63 percent of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California stages.(Image credit: Mark Johnson/www.ironstring.com)
Sylvain Georges (AG2R La Mondiale), winner of stage 6 of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California(Image credit: AFP Photo)
Don't worry if you missed the final four days of action at the Amgen Tour of California, this mini-digest of race highlights will bring you back up to speed.
National US time trial champion David Zabriske (Garmin-Barracuda) usurps the overall lead from Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) at the Amgen Tour of California with a classy performance during the 29.7km time trial in Bakersfield.
Zabriskie sets a winning time of 35:59.21, the full embodiment of his ‘Captain America’ skinsuit, while veteran Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) finishes just under half a minute back. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) was the best of the climbers, netting third at 34 seconds and moving into second overall.
Stage 6: Palmdale - Big Bear Lake 186.3km
Georges was the last man into a seven man breakaway that went from the gun and then the last man standing at the final classified climb with 48km still to race.
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Stage 7: Stage 7: Ontario - Mt. Baldy 126km
Rabobank's Robert Gesink is back: after breaking his femur last October, the Dutch rider has regained his top form and showed it by claiming both the stage win on Mt. Baldy and the race lead of the Tour of California. Gesink out-sprinted John Darwin Atapuma (Colombia Coldeportes), with the Colombian's teammate Fabio Duarte claiming third.
"I'm back, I've been working really, really hard the last months. It didn't always work out in the beginning and that's difficult on an athlete, always wanting to win. Now to be back at the highest level and to be the best uphill like this is unbelievable," Gesink said.
Stage 8: Los Angeles 72km
Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) sprints to his fifth stage win in the Amgen Tour of California on Sunday after a short, fast stage in downtown Los Angeles. His team sets him up perfectly for the bunch sprint finish and he crosses the line ahead of Tom Boonen and Gerald Ciolek (both Omega Pharma-Quickstep).
Rabobank control the race to protect race leader Robert Gesink, who clinches overall victory.
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